Boat lifts are used by boat owners to elevate boats above the water when they are not being used and to lower them back into the water for usage. For example, during the summer season, boat owners use the boat lift to lift boats out of the water to avoid damage from rough waters rocking the boat against the dock..
Boat lifts can be classified by the mechanisms they employ for raising and lowering the boat. Thus there are cantilever boat lifts, vertical boat lifts and hydraulic boat lifts. Cantilever boat lifts have a frame comprising a lower quadrilateral frame and an upper quadrilateral frame with vertical frame members connecting them. The lower and upper frames each have cross-members. Some kind of leveraging mechanism, employing for example a winch, is used to pivot the vertical frame members in unison so as to raise and lower the upper frame members in relation to the lower frame members.
The problem is that the boat lifts themselves have to be moved in and out of the water, depending on the season. It is not advisable to leave your boat lift in freezing water during the winter, for example. This is because it will cause ice damage to the boat lift and to the boats.
The prior art features permanent attachments to cantilever boat lifts designed to help move the boat lifts in and out of the water. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,632 to Fortmeyer is a permanent attachment to a cantilever boat lift.
To date, there are many problems associated with mechanisms used for moving cantilever boat lifts in and out of the water. It should be noted that it is very common for boat owners to have multiple boats; sometimes half a dozen or more. Each boat has its own boat lift permanently affixed to it. Accordingly, when the mechanism for lifting the boat lift is permanently affixed to each of the boat lifts, the cost of such a mechanism must be multiplied by the number of boats. Furthermore, these mechanisms take up storage space.
Accordingly, there is a strong need to have a way of moving cantilever boat lifts in and out of the water that is less expensive. Furthermore, boat lifts are made by different manufacturers. There is a therefore a further need to have such a boat lift transportation mechanism that is compatible for all models of boat lifts regardless of their manufacturer.
The present invention presents a novel, long-awaited solution to these problems and offers yet additional advantages.